The Rocket Launcher Demon Hunter

The Antithesis of Rapid Fire

Tired of the same old retread Demon Hunter builds? Consider shifting things up with this high-octane Demon Hunter rocket build.

But be warned, the following variation requires a bit more precision than most. Instead of aimlessly spamming your Hatred spender, you must hold back a bit, lining up your shots carefully for devastation.

Active Skills

Cluster Arrow + Shooting Stars

This build hinges on the strength of the Shooting Stars rune and its synergy with Ballistics. The result: three AoE rockets that do 800% damage a shot. If normal mobs are not dying on the first or second hit, better check your gear.

Rain of Vengeance

Rain of Vengeance comprises a hefty portion of your damage against bosses and elites. If you are good at aiming, consider equipping the Stampede rune. But if you get frustrated when it fails to hit the mark, stick with Shade.

Vengeance

Vengeance is only needed for the trickiest of battles. Hatred generator via the Seethe rune is generally the way to go, although a case can be made for just about any option.

Companion + Wolf Companion

All the animal companions are useful, but Wolf is typically the optimal choice due to the damage increase.

Hatred Generation

Use your preferred generator, but always equip a rune that increases the Hatred per shot; Hungering Arrow + Serrated Arrow is a fine example. Unless you have some crazy gear (see below), your generator is only used for creating Hatred, not for DPS.

Discipline Spender

Don’t forget you have another resource. Most Demon Hunters will tell you to go with Vault so you can zoom around from place to place, but I actually like Preparation with the Punishment rune to turn my Discipline into a few extra Cluster Rockets. It’s a personal choice…do you prefer mobility or more ammo?

Passive Skills

As mentioned earlier, Ballistics is the key to this. I should mention that if you took the Grenadier passive instead, and don’t use the Shooting Stars rune on your Cluster Arrow, you’ll essentially have a similar Grenade Launcher Demon Hunter. We just gave you two builds in one; you’re welcome.

For the most part, all Demon Hunters benefit pretty well from Archery. If you don’t like the bonus for your weapon of choice, substitute Archery with Perfectionist. Just because we don’t use much Discipline, doesn’t mean we should ignore Perfectionist’s defensive benefits.

Blood Vengeance is a good choice as well – the more Hatred the better.

Use Ambush for solo play since you’ll always be getting the first shot in. Look elsewhere for multiplayer since you’ll want to let someone else use Cave-in, Implosion, or Black Hole to round up the enemies first.

Gear suggestions

Physical is your preferred damage type. (Fire, if you switch to Grenades.) Farm some Reaper’s Wraps. You know you already have the recipe. And if you are lucky enough to get a Kridershot, then Elemental Arrow should replace your generator as you’ll use it quite a bit more. Cloak of the Garwulf is another great choice, tripling your canine companionship.

Conclusion

If you prefer killing your enemies with one hit instead of using slow channeled fire, then this build is a good way to go.